fortunésvsfoutuesWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: fortunés is a adjective, foutues is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“fortunés” is an adjective and “foutues” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#23,216
“fortunés” frequency rank
#29,361
“foutues” frequency rank
52577
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature fortunés foutues
Definition Masculin pluriel de fortuné. Participe passé féminin pluriel de foutre.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set fortunés and foutues apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

8 ch
fortunés
7 ch
foutues

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: fortunés is \fɔʁ.ty.ne\ while foutues is \fu.ty\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 52577, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

fortunés is recorded at frequency rank #23,216, classified as anadj, pronounced \fɔʁ.ty.ne\. foutues is at rank #29,361, tagged as averb, pronounced \fu.ty\.

Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.

With a confusion score of 52577, this pair ranks #146,738 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of fortunés vs foutues

Shared letters: fostu. Private to "fortunés": nré. Private to "foutues": e.

"fortunés" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC  ·  "foutues" · 7 letters · shape CVVCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • foutuesffoutues · fotuues · fouteus · fouttues · foutuess · foutuse · fouutes · fuotues

Frequency comparison

fortunés#23,216
foutues#29,361

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "fortunés" and "foutues" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "fortunés" is an adjective and "foutues" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "fortunés" or "foutues"?
"fortunés" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #23,216 in our French list, against #29,361 for "foutues". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering fortunés vs foutues

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “fortunés”; for a verb, it's “foutues”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “fortunés” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list